Dicken and Chatman: The Rush are in Your Hands
Kevin Sheller
Wednesday May 8, 2002
Yes, the passing game is not the only area that needs head coach Mike Hohensee’s attention. The play-calling for the deep three on defense needs to be less predictable and the team must make better halftime adjustments.
But these problems are correctable. Play-calling can change, and halftime adjustments can become a focus.
However, continued inconsistent play from the quarterback will result in a very average finish for these talented Rush, and it is not so simple to correct.
In week one at Indiana, Dicken threw three interceptions, including two to Gary Compton – the jack linebacker. Last week against the Predators, Dicken threw two more and blamed himself for the Rush collapse after their two-point halftime lead.
“Things didn’t go our way. I didn’t play particularly well, and when I don’t play well, we’re going to struggle,” said Dicken about the loss to Orlando. “We didn’t score [enough] after the half. I’ll put that on my shoulders.
“I threw a couple of interceptions. Porter got tripped on one. The other one was just a pick. So, tonight [against Grand Rapids] I shouldn’t have thrown the pick I threw, but I don’t expect to throw any interceptions in any game.”
After three games, he has already thrown six. Not many starting quarterbacks in the AFL could boast a 2-1 record with so many. Last year, Dicken threw a total of 13, and still the Rush finished at 7-7. If he stays on his current pace, he’ll have 28 on the season.
“Sometimes I get my head where I need to make a play happen when I don’t need to, and that’s just something that I can’t do,” said Dicken. “I need to throw the ball out of bounds, which I do most of the time. You can’t make a mistake. You can’t throw interceptions because those will kill you.”
Fortunately, the team is 2-1 in a tough four-game stretch. Dicken and the offense were responsible for eight of the team’s ten touchdowns against the champs. Dicken threw one ill-advised interception, but also threw six touchdown passes and amassed 254 yards in the air.
Despite such a great performance, Dicken leads the league in interceptions thrown and the offense is struggling in most statistical categories. They have the 13th rated offense, 12th rated passing offense, 9th rated turnover ratio, 12th rated red zone offense, and are 14th in first downs.
Scoring 71 points in a game against the ArenaBowl champs is a nice step in the right direction and boosted the scoring offense to 4th overall. But no matter how skillfully the rest of the team performs, inconsistent play by the quarterback will be impossible to overcome, and it may be the primary reason the Rush finished last season with a 7-7 record.
“I thought I was solid [against the Rampage], but I wasn’t at the top of my game.”
It may seem obvious, but if Dicken can achieve and stay near the top of his game, the sky’s the limit for these Rush.
Antonio Chatman
Kudos to the Chicago coaching staff for signing rookie Antonio Chatman in the offseason. With Joe Douglass out for the year after surgery to repair a ruptured colon, Chatman will likely be thrust into the starting role quite often this season.
 Antonio Chatman lines up to receive a kickoff in Douglass` absense Image courtesy of Kevin Sheller |
“[Chatman] did a great job,” said Hohensee after the game. “I came to him at six o’clock tonight and told him he’d have to play wing, like we told him back on Monday. What’s he do? He grabs his game plan and starts thumbing through it! He’s a kid that we thought in the future could be a superstar in this league. His future is right now.
“He was covered by DS JoJo Polk, one of the better defensive backs in this league, and he ran by him a couple times. He did exactly what we thought he should do. Next week he’s going to be in the lineup, I know that.”
Chatman, a 23-year-old rookie, had played sparingly in the first two games of the season.
“When you got a guy this fast, just throw it as far as you can, Billy,” said Hohensee to his quarterback. “Don’t underthrow him, and let him go get it. That’s what he did tonight.”
Halftime Adjustments
The last two games haven’t gone well for the Rush in the second half. In Orlando, the second-year team laid a goose-egg in the third quarter on its way to a 49-38 loss to the Predators.
Said Dicken, “They made adjustments at halftime that hurt us.”
The following week, while earning an impressive win over the league champions, the Rush dominated the first half by scoring a touchdown on every possession, giving Dicken plenty of time to throw, stopping the Rampage on three of their six offensive possessions, terrorizing QB Clint Dolezel, and forcing two turnovers.
In the second half, the Rampage stormed back, scoring on all but two of their offensive possessions, giving Dicken little time to throw, and protecting Dolezel long enough to allow for him to exploit a series of miscues in the Rush secondary.
“Our secondary became too predictable,” said Hohensee. “And they just one-two played us. They knew exactly where we were going to be.”
The Rampage made the right adjustments at halftime.
Hohensee, his coaching staff, and all of his players are very proud of the team’s rigorous preparation for each opponent. The amount of research they do is admittedly very thorough. Now the Rush just need to make those reads quickly enough to adjust properly at halftime and prevent close calls or second-half defeats.
Kevin Sheller ia founder of Arenafan Online and was the principal owner until 2004. Kevin graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in technical writing, and has been a member of the Arena Football Internet community since 1993. He has worked as a professional web programmer and is also the executive producer for a computer/video game company. The most recent Xbox title to his credit is called Hunter: The Reckoning.
